Political prisoner trial developments in Hong Kong this week (15 January - 19 January)
Trial of Jimmy Lai
The long-anticipated trial of Jimmy Lai opened on Monday 18 December 2023. Jimmy Lai is a British citizen who founded the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily, the largest pro-democracy newspaper in Hong Kong. Mr Lai faces three charges under Hong Kong’s Beijing-imposed National Security Law which carries a maximum punishment of life in prison, and one charge for “conspiracy to publish seditious publications” under the colonial-era sedition law. A long-time critic of the Chinese Communist Party, Mr Lai is one of the most high-profile pro-democracy activists who has been arrested under the NSL.
This week, the first witness to testify against Jimmy Lai, Cheung Kim-hung took the stand. Cheung claimed that he was instructed by Mr Lai to “use Apple Daily to call people to take to the streets, to demonstrate, and to pressure the government.” Cheung is a former CEO of Next Digital, Apple Daily’s parent company, and is one among many former employees of Apple Daily who have been summoned as prosecution witnesses. Grievances were also expressed regarding Apple Daily starting a website in English and Jimmy Lai and Mark Simon hosting an online interview show, for which Mr Simon booked guests.
Last week, the number of prosecution witnesses in Mr Lai’s case dropped from 60 at the start of the trial to 14, without explanation. This is highly unusual, even for NSL cases, and raises further concerns surrounding the fairness and the politicisation of the trial.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also sent a letter to Lord Patten of Barnes, responding to a letter from Hong Kong Watch Patrons, including the last Governor of Hong Kong Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Lord Alton of Liverpool, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, Sir Geoffrey Nice, KC and MPs Fiona Bruce (Conservative), Sarah Champion (Labour) and Alistair Carmichael (Liberal Democrat). For the first time, the Prime Minister publicly recognised the case of Jimmy Lai, and affirmed that Mr Lai’s case remains a priority for the UK Government.
At the start of January, during proceedings, the prosecution named several foreign politicians and human rights advocates with whom Mr Lai had been in contact with over recent years, and showed headshots of some of them. Among them are three British citizens: Hong Kong Watch’s co-founder and Chief Executive Benedict Rogers, the Executive Director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) Luke de Pulford, and Bill Browder, a human rights campaigner who pioneered the introduction of Magnitsky sanctions worldwide.
At the start of the trial, Mr Lai pleaded not guilty to conspiring to collude with foreign forces and publishing allegedly seditious materials in his trial under Hong Kong’s National Security Law. Mr Lai’s trial is expected to last 80 days. The latest developments can be found on the Hong Kong Watch website.
Other Developments
Development 1: Hong Kong man arrested for making allegedly seditious comments on online forum
The Hong Kong national security police arrested 35-year-old Tsang Kwok-hei for making allegedly seditious comments on the online forum LIHKG. The police claimed his posts promoted hatred towards the Government of the People’s Republic of China and the Hong Kong Government. The court order read that Tsang’s posts “intended to counsel disobedience to law or any lawful order.”
Tsang appeared at the West Kowloon Magistrates Court on Friday to face the charge, after police searched Tsang’s home and seized the devices suspected of being used to publish the online posts.
Development 2: Advance Questions on political prisoners in Hong Kong published ahead of UN Review of China
This week, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) published Advanced Questions in preparation for the upcoming Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of China, which will take place on 23 January 2024. The UPR is a UN review process which every member state is required to go through every four to five years, and is a mechanism to ensure scrutiny of every country’s human rights record and recommendations for improvement.
Hong Kong was mentioned 25 times in the Advanced Questions. This includes questions regarding the repeal of the National Security Law from the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Belgium and Australia also asked questions about Hong Kong.
Hong Kong Watch has urged UN Member States to call for a release of political prisoners in Hong Kong, including Jimmy Lai, Chow Hang-Tung, and many others.
The United States raised a question about political prisoners in Hong Kong, asking, “Will Hong Kong cease repressing the freedoms of speech and expression, such as in the politically motivated application of the NSL and sedition law to prosecute Chow Hang-tung, Jimmy Lai, and 47 others?”
Hong Kong Watch made three joint submissions to the United Nations (UN) UPR of the People’s Republic of China. These focus on human rights violations related to the 2019 pro-democracy protests, the Beijing-imposed National Security Law, civil society, political prisoners, women’s rights, and media freedom. The full submissions are available here.
香港政治犯審訊每週簡報（2024年1月15日至19日）
黎智英案
黎智英的《國家安全法》案件經數度延期後，終於在2023年12月18日開審。黎智英是英國公民，創辦了香港最大型民主派報紙《蘋果日報》，《蘋果》現已停運。他被控三項《國安法》控罪，最高可判處終身監禁，另被控一項殖民時代煽動法下的「串謀發布煽動刊物」罪。黎智英長期批評中國共產黨，是因《國安法》被捕而備受關注的社運人士之一。
本週，首名控方「從犯證人」、《蘋果日報》母公司壹傳媒前行政總裁張劍虹出庭作供。他是其中一名控方傳召為證人出庭指證黎智英的《蘋果日報》前僱員。張劍虹供稱，他按黎智英指示「透過《蘋果》呼籲市民上街示威向政府施壓」。 另外，他交代黎智英推出《蘋果》英文版、與助手Mark Simon開設網上訪談節目並邀約嘉賓等事件。
上週，黎智英案的控方證人人數在沒有任何解釋的情況下，從開審時的60人減至14人。即使以國安案而言，這種情況也極不尋常，引發外界對審訊公平性和政治化的進一步憂慮。
另外，英國首相辛偉誠（Rishi Sunak）致函彭定康勳爵（Lord Patten of Barnes），回覆香港監察贊助人的聯署信。聯署香港監察贊助人包括前香港總督彭定康勳爵、前外交大臣聶偉敬爵士（Sir Malcolm Rifkind）、奧爾頓勳爵（Lord Alton of Liverpool）、御用大律師肯尼迪女男爵（Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws）、御用大律師尼斯爵士（Sir Geoffrey Nice）、保守黨國會議員Fiona Bruce、工黨國會議員柴萍恩（Sarah Champion）和自由民主黨國會議員甘文康（Alistair Carmichael）。這是英國首相首度公開談及黎智英的案件，並聲明黎智英案仍將是本屆政府的優先事項。
一月初，控方在宣讀開案陳詞期間點出黎智英近年聯絡過的數名外國政治人物和人權倡議人士的名字，並展示頭像。被點名人士包括三名英國公民：香港監察共同創辦人兼行政總監羅傑斯（Benedict Rogers）、對華政策跨國議會聯盟（IPAC）執行總監裴倫德（Luke de Pulford）和率先在全球推動馬格尼茨基制裁的人權倡議者Bill Browder。
黎智英開審時否認「串謀勾結外國勢力」及「串謀發布煽動刊物」等控罪。黎智英案預計審期為80日，香港監察網站載有案件的最新發展。
其他事件
事件1：男子涉在「連登」討論區發布具煽動意圖言論被捕
事件2：聯合國下週二審議中國 美國預先提交有關香港政治犯問題